The files, made available by non-profit organisation Defense Distributed, had already been downloaded more than 100,000 times before the government stepped in, reports CBS.
The gun prototype was created by 25-year-old Cody Wilson – the law student behind Defense Distributed – who successfully test-fired the printed gun last week in Texas.
Airport security
However, after two days of availability the State Department intervened to take down the files, which were hosted on New Zealand-based website Mega. Information on the users who have downloaded the data is encrypted, according to CBS.
Fears were raised over the weapon as 15 of its 16 parts are made from plastic that is undetectable by airport security.
Mr Wilson immediately complied with the State Department’s request, but added that the issue has ‘implications for the freedom of the web’.
Mr Wilson said: ‘I still think we win in the end because the files are all over the Internet. ... To think this can be stopped in any meaningful way is to misunderstand what the future of distributive technologies is about.’
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